This year’s Annual Scientific Meeting of the Wellcome Trust Liverpool Glasgow Centre for Global Health Research (WTCGHR) has ended with a call for closer collaboration, sharing of skills and knowledge between health research institutions.
Almost 200 researchers from Malawi, the UK (the Universities of Liverpool and Glasgow; LSTM and the Wellcome Trust) and invited guests from India (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) gathered at Club Makokola, on the shores of Lake Malawi.
The Associate Director for the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust (MLW) Dr Wilson Mandala said: “This year’s meeting offers us an opportunity to look back at the research work that has been done in Malawi and plan for the future having learnt from what our friends are doing internationally. We as a nation stands to benefit a lot from such kind of meetings”, said Mandala.
Dr Mandala further said “MLW continues to grow through collaborations making our research projects more relevant not only to Malawi but to the whole region, therefore benefiting a wider public“.
In his remarks the MLW Programme Director, Professor Stephen Gordon, said the institution will continue to train and recruit scientists from postgraduate to professor because the medical profession in the country continues to face human resource challenges and this has negatively affected health service delivery.
The Annual Scientific Meetings offer a great opportunity for scientists to showcase their work and promote scientific interaction at all levels. Activities at the meeting included plenary lectures, oral presentations, poster presentations and break-away sessions.